“Gossip Girl” — The Wild Brunch
“But it’s not just your Han Solo jacket that I like…
With the amount of television I have been watching over the past week I was beginning to feel like I lost sight of what separated a good show from a show that was just OK. Gossip Girl was quick to remind me. A good show is painless. A good show captures your attention as opposed to fighting for your attention. Two minutes into this week’s episode (and two hours since I sat down to hammer through a night’s worth of DVR’d programming) I was completely transfixed. Perhaps it’s the writing. No, of course it’s the writing. For a show chalk full of high school archetypes (though insanely rich and privileged ones) I’m shocked at how natural all of the dialogue sounds. Or maybe it’s the cast. This cast oozes charm like the Valdez. Whatever it is I pray it doesn’t change. More after the jump…
The decadence on the show is very Whit Stillman (by way of MTV, Web 2.0 and post-Giuliani Manhattan). It’s intriguing in its simultaneous preposterousness and curious familiarity. Despite all of the science fiction and fantasy that has cropped up on network television over the past years and a half, this is the world that I find most mystifying and soaked in intrigue.
There are, of course, problems. Like why did the mom go from the UES all the way to Williamsburg to meet up with Mr. 90’s Former Rock Legend only to go back to the UES in a period of, say, 45 minutes? Or better, why would Dan be upset that Serena nailed her best friend’s boyfriend months earlier? He doesn’t know these people. Sure, it’s a character flaw, but hardly a finger-cuffs situation. Still, hardly complaints worth sacrificing the gold that is this series. Talk about a perfect show for hump-day.
Episode highlights:
- Dan’s cool-guy jacket
- K-Bell using the word “Fusterclucked”
- The live mannequins at brunch.
- The “wave” and its related discussions on both sides
- Dan’s doorman interactions
- Referencing the Ozarks
- Basically anything Dan does or says
If you would have asked me a month ago what my favorite new show of the fall would be, I’d probably have said something expected like Pushing Daisies or Dirty Sexy Money or Chuck. I’d never thought I’d be under the spell of a teenage soap set on the upper east side. Love it.
